Forgotten maps of mining and metallurgical districts of the Polish Kingdom and their author – Maksymilian Strasz

The establishment of the Kingdom of Poland (in 1815, within the framework of Empire of Russia) and the development of government-run mining and metallurgy gave a chance of employment to many well-educated specialists in the fields of geology and mining. This also meant that they were involved, for the first time, in a number of new tasks, such as the drafting of the first economic maps of the mining districts: the Eastern District, covering the region of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Western District, located on the south-western peripheries of the Kingdom and bordering on the lands held by Prussia and Austria. One of the specialist must have been Maksymilian Strasz (1804–1885), the author of two maps which appeared in print in 1846: Karta położenia Zakładów Górniczych Rządowych w Królestwie Polskim. Okręg Wschodni [Map of the location of governmental mining plants in the Kingdom of Poland. Eastern District] (scale 1:126 000, engraved by J. Dietrich at the Lithography of the Bank of Poland in Warsaw) and Karta ogólna położenia Zakładów Górniczych Rządowych w Królestwie Polskim, Okręgu Zachodnim, z oznaczeniem utworów powierzchni ziemi w przybliżeniu [General map of the location of governmental mining plants in the Kingdom of Poland, Western District, with an approximate indication of the formations of the earth’s surface] (scale 1:126 000, engraved by P. Kresse at the Lithography of the Bank of Poland in Warsaw). Unfortunately, no descriptions or other information on how the maps were drafted have been preserved, nor is there any information on how many maps were printed. The map of the Eastern District was drafted in much detail, both with regard to topography, and the mining and metallurgical content. The location of industrial plants was indicated, as was the range of forests. By contrast, in the map of the Western District the content was largely simplified, and the whole map seems not to have been a completed work. In spite of the many technical shortcomings, it must be said that both described maps were the first comprehensive cartographical representation of the industrial regions. Maksymilian Strasz presented both mineral deposits, as well as the location of and interrelations between particular industrial plants on his maps